FROM THE DEPARTMENT of dubious honors comes news that the National Rifle Association will return to Pittsburgh for its 2011 national convention. The NRA came here for the first time in 2004 and clearly the city and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center made a good impression -- which is the good part of the news. While the NRA has a lot to answer for in restricting sensible efforts to curb gun violence, there's no reason to suspend the usual rules of hospitality. More NRA members will be coming in 2011, some 61,000, and it helps that Pittsburgh has built (and will build) more hotels capable of accommodating such an influx. VisitPittsburgh gets the credit for getting the NRA to come back so soon.

PITTSBURGH is a place that visitors can enjoy walking around (and, in most areas, it is not even necessary to pack heat). So perambulation-friendly is Pittsburgh that addresses around here have lately shown up more than any other city in the state on a new Web site -- WalkScore.com -- which can be used to judge the appeal of a home based on its walking distance to businesses and other points of interest. But the Web site does not account for topographical features, Unfortunately, in Pittsburgh, it's sometimes all uphill -- like efforts toward sensible gun-control legislation.

BEING MAYOR of Pittsburgh is no cakewalk, but Sophie Masloff brought her own style to the job that endeared her to thousands. Like Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a City Council president who came to office after the popular Bob O'Connor died tragically, Mrs. Masloff became mayor in 1988 after another beloved figure, Dick Caliguiri, died of a rare illness. But unlike the young Mr. Ravenstahl, Mrs. Masloff was Pittsburgh's senior-citizen mayor. On Friday, a ceremony was held to name a street after her near PNC Park (she was an early champion of a new ballpark for the Bucs) to mark her birthday. Today she turns 90 and everyone around should wish her well.